Flexible rotary drive coupling



April 11, 1944.

J. M. HAIT FLEXIBLE ROTARY DRIVE GOUPLING Filed Oct. 50, 1941l l v illr,f

`/M/E/v TOQ: .JAMES M. /74/7' ATTaQ/yD Patented Apr. ll,4 1944 f UNITEDSTATES lPATENT 'OFFICE FLEXIBLE ROTARY DRIVE COUPLING James M. Halt, BanGabriel, Calif., assignor to Food Machinery Corporation, San Jose,Calif.. a corporation of Delaware Application October 3o, 1941, SerialNo. 417,093

This invention relates to flexible rotary drive couplings and isA ofspecial utility in connecting the rotor of a Moineau pump with the shaftfor driving the same.

It is an object of my invention to provide an improved flexible rotarydrive coupling.

It is another object of my invention to provide pump.

string of pump tubing Il. The pump I2 includes a stator il and a rotorIl. 'I'he pump tubing Il is provided with a series of bearings It inwhich is journalled a line shaft Il, the lower end of the latter beingconnected to the rotor Il by a exible rotary drive coupling il whichconstitutes a preferred embodiment of the coupling of the presentinvention.

The construction of the coupling II, after the manufacture of this hasbeen completed, is shown in Fig. 2. but this construction can best beunderstood by describing the process by which it is manufactured. Asnoted in Fig. 2, the main ele- A further object of the invention is toprovide such a coupling which is adapted for sustaining a high tensionload as well as a high torque load.

A yet further object ofthe' invention is to provide a deep well pump ofthe Moineau type in which power is relatively smoothly and eilicientlytransmitted to the rotor of the pump.

The manner of accomp hing the foregoing objects, as well as furthetages, will be made manifest in the following description taken inconnection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. l is a diagrammatic sectional view of a portion of a deep waterwell illustrating a Moineau pump installation therein, portions thereofbeing lbroken away to show the use of a preferred embodiment of thecoupling of the present invention employed for connecting the rotor ofthe pump with the drive shaft.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged cross sectional view of the ilexible rotary drivecoupling shown in Fig. 1.

Figs. 3. 4 and 5 are diagrammatic views illustrating successive steps inthe manufacture of the coupling of the invention,

Fig. 3 shows one of the coupling heads and one end of the cable employedin the coupling in rl'leadiness to be inserted into (the socket in saidead. rig. 4 snows the next renewing' step m the manufacture of thecoupling of the invention in which the socket portion of the head isswedged down into gripping engagement with the cable end inserted intothe socket.

Fig. 6 illustrates the next following step in the manufacture of thecoupling of the invention'in `which the socket portion of the couplinghead is turned down to a uniform diameter in preparation for receiving aJacket of rubber.

Referring specifically to the drawing, Fis. 1

objects and advanments of the coupling ipcomprise upper and lower heads20 and 2|. a section of heavy wire cable 22 and a rubber jacket 22. Thehead' 2l has an internally threaded receptacle 24 to permit itsattachment to the lower end of the shaft I1.' The head 2| has anexternally threaded member 25 which is adapted to be screwed in to theupper end of a sleeve Il, by which the lower end of the coupling Il isconnected to the pump rotor il. Other than these differences, the heads2l and 2i are identical, these heads being prefv 'erably made of mildsteel. f

The heads 2l and 2| are assembled with the cable 22 in the same mannerso that the illustration in Figs. 3, 4 and 5 of the assembling oftheillustrates a well I0 provided with a casing li and a Moineau pump I2installed in said well. this pump being attached to the lower end of ahead 2l with the cable 22 will sumce for both. As noted in Fig. 3, thehead 2l ls first made'of uniform outside diameter throughout its length,the lower portion of this providing a socket Il having an internallybevelled mouth 3i. The section of cable 22 is preferably a steel ropewith independent wire rope core, regular lay. 6x19. Before the section22 is cut from the main body of the cable, the wires of the cable arepreferably brazed f together so that when the section 22 is cut out fromthe main body of the cable, the strands of section 22 adjacent the endsthereof are thus brazed together.

In assembling the cable section 422 with the head 2l, a brazed end ofthis cable section is inserted into the socket Il andthis socket isthenswedged downwardly into intimate gripping contact with the cable, asshown in Fig. 4. Following this swedging operstion, the outer surface ofthe socket 3l of the head 2l is turned down to a uniform diameter toprovide a rubber sleeve seat s2. It is tothe noted that the swedgingoperation still leaves a space I2 between the bevelled mouth 3l of thesocket Il and the cable 22.

The next step in the manufacture ot the ilexible coupling Il is to placethe cable section 22 assembled as indicated in Fig. 5, with the head thecoupling heads.

2li-(and with the head 2| assembled in 'a similar manner with theopposite end of the cable 22) into a rubber mold.I This mold (not shown)has a cylindrical bore of the same diameter as the major outsidediameters of the heads 20 and 2l. A jacket 23 of rubber is nowvulcanized onto the metal elements of the coupling so that this rub-'ner is forced into the spaces 83 in the heads 20 and 2l and into theinterstices of the cable 22 and into the space overlying the seat 32 sothat when the vulcanization of the jacket 23 onto the metal parts of thecoupling is complete, this jacket appears as shown in Fig. 2.

The conical wedges of rubber 34 which'are forced into and vulcanized inthe spaces 33 in the formation of the rubber jacket 23 serve animportant mechanical function in the operation of the coupling` I8 incushioning the bending action of the strands of the cable 22 where thiscable leaves the mouths 3| of the coupling heads 20 and 2l. Thiscushioning effect operates to spread the bending strains to which thesestrands are subjected so as to effectively prevent the crystallizationof these strands due to their bending in the operation of the coupling.

A This cushioning action is of great importance in that when driving thepump I2 the coupling Il must rotate at speeds of 1500 R. P. M. andhigher under high torque and tension stresses.

The advantages of the coupling I8 of my invention when used in driving aMoineau pump in a deep well derive from the fact that this tary drivecoupling. the combination of: a section of heavy twisted steel wire ropehaving hig torque and tension load transmitting factors:

pair of steel heads having high torque and tension load transmittingfactors, said heads having axial sockets in which opposite ends of saidrope are received and securely fastened; and means on said heads fortransmitting simultaneously sion loads through said couplings while saidy heads are misaligned.

coupling is capable of sustaining, at high rotational speed, combinedhigh torque and high tension loads while being subjected to misalignmentof the -drive and driven heads. These pumps operate under a head ofwater extending to the top of the well which is frequently as much as400 feet deep. The rotor has to be supported by the coupling againstthis head of water and rotated to pump a stream of water upwards. Whenso rotated the pump rotor gyrates about the axis of the pump in theopposite direction from that in which 'its rotation occurs. A

The resulting misalignment of the drive and driven heads of the couplingconstantly nexes the metal wire rope of the coupling adjacent each ofThe rubber cushion, vulcanized to the rope and to the coupling heads andlying within the bevelled mouths of the rope sockets, resists the ropebending too sharply where this rope enters the head sockets and thusprolonga the life of the coupling.

What I claim is:

1. In a high-torque,A high-tension exible ro- 3. In a high-torque,high-tension flexible rotary drive coupling, the combination of: asection of heavy twisted steel wire rope having high torque and tensionload transmitting factors; a pair of steel heads having high torque andtension load transmitting factors, said heads having axial sockets inwhich opposite ends of said rope are snugly received and securelyfastened, the mouths of said sockets being flared; means on said headsfor transmitting simultaneously high y torque and high tension loadsthrough said coupling while said heads are misaligned; and a body ofrubber encasing said rope and extending in to said socket mouths andvulcanized to the head and rope surfaces contacted thereby.

4. In a, high-torque, high-tension flexible rotary drive coupling, thecombination of: a section of heavy twisted steel wire rope havinghightorque and tension load-transmitting factors; a pair of steel headshaving high-torque and tension load-transmitting factors, said headshaving axial sockets in which opposite ends of said rope are receivedand securely fastened; means on said heads adapted to connect to rotarydrive and driven members for transmitting simultaneously high-torque andhigh-tension loads through s aid coupling while said heads aremisaligned; and a sealing Jacket of rubber bonded to said cable and saidheads to rotate tortuously therewith and prevent access of moisture tosaid cable.

TABLES M. HAIT.

